Sunday, July 20, 2014

My Real Instagram

So I guess the obsession started a few weeks ago when Dana shared the interview with Amy Stone, the queen of Instagram. Amy talked about Instagram as her way to a "picture-perfect NYC" and it really started to put a perspective on this funny little social media app that we find our fingers itching towards.

You see, we always hear those things about how social media, and especially Instagram, is just the highlight reel of our lives. I 100% agree. Coming from the girl who likes to keep it real, I will admit and tell you straight off the bat that Instagram is just the highlights. It's just the pretty parts of our sometimes ugly lives, but in my opinion, there's nothing wrong with that.

If you think about it, we like pretty things. In the simplest manner, no twists or turns on the controversy of societal beauty... I mean just plain pretty, just easy on the eye and aesthetically pleasing. That's the purpose of Instagram- to provide a source of enjoyment for us to look at pretty things. I mean, it's even the way we look at art and paintings. If we see a beautiful painting, we like it. If we see a boring painting that doesn't make us go all heart eyes emoji, we think, "Ugh, I could do that!" and it's not as much fun. This is art in the simplest manner, if you were to take it with no meaning behind it. And I think that while we could all agree that art is about more than what you see, we could all also agree that we're naturally drawn to the pretty paintings.

Now, back to Instagram. I think bloggers get a lot of hate for looking like they always have pretty, glamorous lives, only via Instagram. I'm guilty of thinking that when I see the perfect 'peonies, newspaper, and french toast' Insta, but at the same time, I'm double tapping the heck out of that picture. Because I like it. I like seeing your brunch and your flowers all creatively next to your notebook. I think it's pretty. It inspires me to have a more beautiful day and see the bright side of your life.

When we look at Instagram, we're looking at the most beautiful and eye-catching part of someone's day, in the way they see it. I think about color schemes and the way someone's Instagram makes you feel. A few examples for you- you have Shelby with soft pinks and pastels, Glitter Guide with bright turquoise, Whitley with blue and yellow, Whitney with whites, Danielle with unique backgrounds, Amy with darker greys, Dana with a city feel, Dean/PKP with a travel feeling, Rachel with bright colors, Mackenzie with pops of coral and turqouise, Mason with gold, and the list goes on and on. I'm not even kidding, I find myself just drawn to some Instagram accounts and so many more. My friend would make fun of me watching me go through my Instagram feed because I like every single picture on my feed. "You don't even read the caption completely! How do you know if you really like that picture?" And yes, maybe this is the reason my generation gets blamed for having a short attention span, but truthfully, I find each picture so eye-catching that it's hard for me not to like it. I mean, just look at the list I created. Each account on there has such a unique look and feel to it that it's hard to see an Instagram as more than the art you're putting on display, and I think that's pretty freaking cool.And honestly, if you're reading this and you're not a blogger and/or don't have a color scheme (LOLZ I don't), I really just love seeing you in your pictures, too. All y'all have pretty faces, so that's included, too.

I like your pictures and I like following you because I like seeing how you look at life. Do you look at it with a walk in the city? Do you look at it with an afternoon with your dog? How are you capturing life's small little moments and showing the world, 'this is what I care about' through your Instagram? That's why we don't put the dull moments on social media. They're just not as pretty, and there's nothing wrong with that. I've collected some of my really great life moments and sadly saved them to show you what my Instagram would look like if I highlighted every detail of my life. They're not as pretty as the 'my desk is arranged this way' or the 'my nails and bracelet go perfect together' photo, I promise.

I bring to you, The "Real" Instagram Feed of Meredith Scroggin:

"OOTD includes fairy wings and a wand."

"On the blog tomorrow: me trying to curl my hair at 12:30 at night!"

"Look what new addition the Scroggin household has! #homeware"

"Tagged by @____ in #WIDT- Eating too many tacos in an overswized sweatshirt and sweatpants because I just got a spray tan for prom."

"The sass is so real. #sorrynotsorry"

"#summerstyle- leggings with long crew socks! Everyone's doing it!"

"Outfit ideas!!"

"I don't know if y'all have heard of this new look, but it's called 'look completely depressed because the rain is literally cramping your style'."

"Falling asleep in places besides my bed is one of my many hobbies."

"The au naturel look features Meredith with no makeup, but with a pore cleansing strip on her nose. #summerfun"

"*tries to get an artsy pic of the golf course*"

"I couldn't find my super cute and preppy hat, so a dress had to do." (which is kind of funny because this was moments before I took this Instagram)

"It's 1:00 in the afternoon and I'm still wearing an XL tee and pajama pants, but drinking my fourth cup of coffee."

"YO! I've been waiting for forever in this waiting room! No cute boys to flirt with :/"

"Boutta eat this fast food cheesecake at 10:30 at night, but first, look at my cool nails that are holding my plastic silverware."

"And here we are, 11:00 at night with no plans. I'm hiding under my covers because the air conditioning is on and by golly, it's summer so I'm not all layered up. #blessed"

DO YOU LIKE THESE PICTURES? Would these be worthy of a double tap and a "this is so cute!!! *kissy emoji*"? Ummm, probably not. These are the boring, day-to-day things that are #nofilter and just plain aren't enjoyable. I mean, for the most part, they're fairly negative and just a sad look on how boring life can be sometimes. So yeah, that's why I, and many bloggers and other people, choose to highlight just the pretty, fun things in our lives. Because if we can't pick out those small moments to capture, who's going to?